Welcome from the Head of School
It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the School of Languages and Linguistics. The School hosts teaching programs in European Studies and the most widely spoken European languages - French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish - and in Linguistics, Applied Linguistics and English as a Second Language. With a combined total of over 100 researchers, including research staff and students as well as postdoctoral researchers and research fellows, the School is one of the greatest Language and Linguistics research centres in Australia, and indeed one of the finest in our part of the world. The School hosts the Language Testing Research Centre and the Research Unit on Multilingualism and Cross-Cultural Communication.
Knowledge of European languages and cultures opens up innumerable career opportunities in all areas. As Australia's largest commercial partner, the European Union and its member states continue to play a key role not only in trade but also in military, technological, scientific, diplomatic, and cultural exchanges. Our languages are also of crucial importance in other rapidly growing, resource-rich regions such as Latin America and North Asia. The combined population of native speakers of Spanish, Russian, French, German and Italian is almost 1 billion. That figure is much higher, of course, if non-native speakers are also considered - and, with the exception of English, some of these languages remain the most widely studied languages around the world by a vast margin.
Understanding how Language, any language, works is essential not only in order to learn a language, but also in order to understand how languages are born, how they change and grow, and how and why some are abandoned and die. From writing dictionaries and describing the inner mechanisms or grammars of different languages to getting the big picture of language use in specific societies (including Australian Indigenous peoples) and making sense of language regulation and policy-making, the fields of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics can help you understand what human language is and how to reverse engineer it.
You can find the School in the historic Babel Building at the heart of the Parkville campus. After years of being used for other purposes, Babel reverted in 2010 to its original function as languages hub at the University of Melbourne. In its rich history, the School and its constituent departments have been home to some of the most prestigious and internationally renowned language scholars in Australia - from Alan R. Chisholm (French, 1888-1981) to Michael G. Clyne (Sociolinguistics, 1939-2010).
The School of Languages and Linguistics works closely with the Asia Institute and all the Schools in the Faculty of Arts and with the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences in its advocacy for all language-related disciplines. The School engages actively with other language centres and agencies in Melbourne and nationwide. Its many international links include exchange and study abroad programs as well as research networking and collaborative research projects.
Whether you are a current or prospective student, a language researcher based in Australia or overseas, or a potential partner, I warmly invite you to join and explore the School. I trust that the information contained in these pages will provide you with useful and specific information on the School's activities in teaching, research and engagement, and also on its staff and internal organisation.
On behalf of my colleagues, welcome, bienvenue, Willkommen, benvenuti, Добро пожаловать, bienvenidos to the School and enjoy your time with us.
Professor Alfredo Martínez-Expósito FAHA
Head of School